Kathmandu

Biggest and main city of Nepal. On one hand very spiritual, on the other very pollution and crowd.

Nepal - Annapurna Range

Annapurna is a massif in the Himalayas in Nepal that includes one peak over 8000 m and several peaks over 7000 m and 6000 m. At the western end there is a high basin called the Annapurna Sanctuary. Annapurna has the tenth highest mountain in the world at 8091 m above sea level.

The entire massif and surrounding area are protected within the Annapurna Conservation Area, the first and largest conservation area in Nepal. We trekked for 9 days in the Annapurna massif and enjoyed the feeling of mountains surrounding us. As there was a snowstorm we were not able to trek to the Annapurna Basecamp,  but we had some amazing days in the clear fresh air of Nepal. 

India

Everyone told me: you will either hate or love this country.  It's a country full of different aspects.

South India was similar to Sri Lanka. Green, nice beaches,  tea plantages,  colors,  spices and a lot of textiles. People were nice and it seems that they are not that poor.

Also Goa was very enjoyable. You can easily get lost in Goa.  Just live day by day. Sun, beach and party. Great time. =)

North India was quite a culture shock. Everthing really dirty, trash everywhere,  cows in the street and eating the trash. A lot of poor people are asking for money and are sleeping on the street or in their hut. Men pee around in public and spit like world champions. Therefore in the town very smelly. There is so much noise everywhere,  that you are feeling so exhausted and so dirty after coming back to the hotel.

But sure there is also another part: bright colours, interesting belivings; very strong belivings. Different culture and behaviour.
We travelled for sure over 100 hours by train through whole India. The people in general are nice, but everyone is taking pictures of you, even without asking. In the Bus, on the street, at the beach. I really don't care about making pictures of me and I am happy to pose for them, but on the beach it's really annoying.  I even could not go swimming alone, because everybody was taking sneaky pictures. We did not have every day the patience for them. But sometimes it was funny. In Mumbai Steffi and I were asked for a photo by one guy. In the end there where crowds of people around us and everyone asked for pictures.

I am so pleased to be in Pokhara currently. After a 12 hour journey in a local bus over the congested, dusty and dirty towns to the border of Nepal we are happy to enjoy ourself now in the Himalaya Mountains.  Here everthing is so clean and quiet - like home :*

From Dehli to Agra and to Varanasi

We booked a bus from Dehli to Agra to look at the Taj Mahal. Unfortunately the booking did not arrive at the bus and we did not have a seat in the bus. So we had to take a local bus, which took us 6 hours to get to Agra. Big bity, because so we did not have the time to look at the Taj Mahal,  because we have already booked an over night train in the afternoon to Varanasi.

Varanasi - the holy city. It is the holiest of the seven sacred cities in Hinduism. Some Hindus believe that death at Varanasi brings salvation. According to legend, Varanasi was founded by the God Shiva. 

The city is on the river Ganges. "Death, which elsewhere is feared, here is welcomed as a long-expected guest." Funerals, which are taking place near the river, burn dead bodys nonstop and the ash will be thrown into the water. 

People travel from around the country and the world to spend their last days here or to bath in this water. Hindus believe in the power of the Ganges water. 

The idea to bath in that water it's little scary for us three, as dead people find there their peace. Also because people who were bitten by a cobra, Holy people, pregnant woman and kids get not burned, the bodys will be lowered into the water.

For the locals is that their normal life, they wash there cloths in the river too. We had a look at the Funerals and the Ceronomie for Shiva in the evening. 

Varanasi was a really special experience. 

Dehli

After a 22 hours train journey we arrived in Delhi. Delhi - the indian capital. With 11.0 million inhabitants in the proper city and 16.3 million in the surrounding is Delhi after Mumbai the second largest city in India.

We did some sightseeing by tuktuk and discovered Dehli's nightlife - which was unexpected really cool.